Stage at diagnosis of prostate cancer in Connecticut by poverty and race.
OBJECTIVE
The study sought to determine if black-white differences in distribution of stage at diagnosis of prostate cancer persisted after controlling for a socioeconomic status (SES) indicator as an ecologic variable.


METHODS
A descriptive epidemiologic study.


METHODS
The dataset was from the population-based Connecticut Tumor Registry (CTR), covering patients diagnosed in 1988-92.


METHODS
All white (N = 8,155) and black (N = 521) patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and reported to the CTR.


RESULTS
The proportion of prostate cancers diagnosed at the distant (metastatic) stage was significantly higher in blacks than in whites, even within census tracts with high overall or race-specific poverty rates (20% or higher). When patient age and poverty rate of census tract (deciles) were included in a logistic model, black vs. white race was still statistically significantly associated with diagnosis at the distant vs. local or regional stage.


CONCLUSIONS
Further studies are needed to explore the potential roles of black-white differences in screening rates and in biological factors, independent of SES, in explaining these findings.
Polednak
A P
AP
Connecticut Tumor Registry, Connecticut Department of Public Health, Hartford 06134-0308, USA.
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D044383:Black People; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012042:Registries; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*